Donna Colton

Band members:
Donna Colton, vocals and guitar; Sam Patterelli, bass, guitar and back-up vocals. Her extended band includes Dave Salce on drums and Julius Williams on percussion.

Li-Hua Lan / The Post-StandardDonna Colton and Sam Patterelli are veterans of the Syracuse music scene. Their comfortable acoustic rock style made the duo feel right at home during an April show at Kelley's Bar & Restaurant in Syracuse.

History in Syracuse:
Colton started performing in the 1980s as part of a duo with her cousin, Mark Zink. She played with Double Down in the 1990s. Colton went solo in 1995. She's also been part of the Winter Solstice show since its inception. Patterelli started playing in the 1980s with The Clams. He also was part of Private Sector, The Victims, The Twist Tops, Glass Hanmer and The Mercurys.

Bialczak writes about Colton's CD, "House Party" in 2004:
Donna Colton and Sam Patterelli got in on the ground floor of a live-music fad that's becoming popular nationwide, thanks to David and Teresa Mott, of Baldwinsville.

The phenomenon is called the house concert ... So the Motts decided to invite Colton and Patterelli to play their original music in the Mott living room ... A collection box was set up to pay the musicians. Also, Ron Keck, of Subcat Studios in Skaneateles, set up his digital sound board to record the two sets of music on discs that guests were able to register to purchase.

The duo combined old songs from Colton's first two discs and some catchy new material from a disc (being recorded at Subcat) that Colton hopes to release by the end of 2004.

From the opening song, the beautiful "Fatal Love," everybody was happy.

Li-Hua Lan / The Post-StandardSinger-songwriter Donna Colton.

Go ahead and brag:Colton: "I say the original songs have the power of Melissa Etheridge and Sheryl Crow with the song craft of Indigo Girls. I can also have the crooning ability of Norah Jones and the grit of Susan Tedeschi."

Patterelli: "Our music would be best described as this: If Bonnie Raitt got together with Melissa Etheridge over at Joni Mitchell's house and traded Beatles cards, with watching Neil Young play Indigo Girls on TV."

What other Central New York musicians would you recommend?Colton: "The Nanni-Salce Intention, Mark & Stan, The Barrigar Brothers."

Patterelli: "Tarzan Brothers, Karen Savoca & Pete Heitzman, Livid."

If you could be anyone else for a day, who would it be?Colton: "I would be a combination of Sheryl Crow, TV's Craig Ferguson and Father (Joseph) Champlin. I love Father Champlin. He's such a model human being. My experience with him has been nothing but positive. Craig, he's always up, he's humorous. He's not of of those guys who dwells in the dumps. He stole me from Conan (O'Brien). And Sheryl Crow because she's such a great musician and has great production ideas. I'd love to know what it would be like to have that kind of career. She's so well-respected."

Patterelli: "I'd have to say probably John Lennon. To be able to sing like that and write like that."